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The White House announced that it will
coordinate three competitions for teams across the U.S. to win
a combined $200 million to develop manufacturing innovation
hubs. Teams consisting of any variety of companies,
universities, community colleges and nonprofit organizations
in one geographic region are eligible to band together to
apply for the money. Winners will be picked later this year,
the Obama administration says.

The $200 million in federal funding comes from five federal
agencies: Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department
of Commerce, NASA and the National Science Foundation. The money
will be matched by support from state and local governments and
industry sources. These innovation hubs are expected to become
financially independent, the administration says.

A team of manufacturing experts from throughout the federal
government will select the contest winners. A prospective
innovation hub’s ability to prove it has a path towards financial
sustainability will be a key measure in achieving success in the
competition, the administration says.

The goal of the innovation hubs is to bring together academic
research with the local business community. Students and workers
collaborate to turn an idea into products. Also, the hubs give
small manufacturers a place to learn about and test new
technologies.

The competition comes on the heels of the government’s successful
pilot program of the innovation hub model in Youngstown, Ohio.
The President mentioned the Youngstown facility in his State of the Union address this
year as a beacon of progress in the struggling U.S.
manufacturing industry. The process of additive manufacturing,
which is the technical term for 3-D printing, is being
developed in Youngstown to help advance the understanding and
use of this new technology in the U.S.

In his budget proposal for 2014, the
President included $1 billion to launch 15 of these advanced
manufacturing hubs throughout the U.S. Congress and the
President have not been able to come to a deal over the
budget, and so the plan's fate remains unknown.

Industry categories for the three manufacturing hubs the
President announced today have been determined and the most
applicable government agency assigned to manage the contest.

Digital manufacturing and design
innovation: Department of Defense. Automating
supply chains and connecting them to computer networks can
help allow factories to change course quickly. Increasing
the adoption of sensors and robotics in manufacturing is
expected to make the U.S. more competitive globally,
according to the White House.

Lightweight and modern metals
manufacturing: Department of Defense. Greater
adoption of lightweight metals is expected to advance
technologies in a range of industries from medical devices
to combat vehicles. Lighter equipment demands less fuel to
move it around, making lightweight metals manufacturing
both cost and energy-saving.

Complete application details, evaluation criteria and deadline
schedule will be released from the Department of Defense and the
Department of Energy, but they have not yet been published,
according to the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office,
a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce. As information
becomes available, it will be on the federal government’s manufacturing web site.